Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
diatribe - 4 dictionary results

di⋅a⋅tribe

  [dahy-uh-trahyb]
Use diatribe in a Sentence
–noun
a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism: repeated diatribes against the senator.
Origin:
1575–85; < L diatriba < Gk diatrib pastime, study, discourse, deriv. of diatríbein to rub away (dia- dia- + tríbein to rub)

Synonyms:
tirade, harangue.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To diatribe
di·a·tribe   (dī'ə-trīb')   
n.  A bitter, abusive denunciation.

[Latin diatriba, learned discourse, from Greek diatribē, pastime, lecture, from diatrībein, to consume, wear away : dia-, intensive pref.; see dia- + trībein, to rub; see terə-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: Listening to a lengthy diatribe may seem like a waste of time, an attitude for which there is some etymological justification. The Greek word diatribē, the ultimate source of our word, is derived from the verb diatrībein, made up of the prefix dia-, "completely," and trībein, "to rub," "to wear away, spend, or waste time," "to be busy." The verb diatrībein meant "to rub hard," "to spend or waste time," and the noun diatribē meant "wearing away of time, amusement, serious occupation, study," as well as "discourse, short ethical treatise or lecture, debate, argument." It is the serious occupation of time in discourse, lecture, and debate that gave us the first use of diatribe recorded in English (1581), in the now archaic sense "discourse, critical dissertation." The critical element of this kind of diatribe must often have been uppermost, explaining the origin of the current sense of diatribe, "a bitter criticism."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Diatribe

Di"a*tribe\ (?; 277), n. [L. diatriba a learned discussion, Gr. ?, prop., a wearing away of time, fr. ? to rub away, spend time; dia` through + ? to rub: cf. L. terere, F. trite: cf. F. diatribe.] A prolonged or exhaustive discussion; especially, an acrimonious or invective harangue; a strain of abusive or railing language; a philippic.

The ephemeral diatribe of a faction. --John Morley.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

diatribe 
1581, from L. diatriba "learned discussion," from Gk. diatribe "discourse, study," lit. "a wearing away (of time)," from dia- "away" + tribein "to wear, rub." Sense of "invective" is 1804, apparently from Fr.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see diatribe on Thesaurus | Reference